Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp called the property tax rates in Chattanooga and area municipalities “draconian” in remarks to the Hamilton County Pachyderm at its annual fundraiser.
Wamp also doubled down on frustrations over Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, and his aim to freeze older adults’ property taxes.
At the Monday evening event, Wamp said taxation is the most political and partisan issue that plays out in local government.
“These are draconian increases in the way that your property is taxed,” Wamp said to a room of Republican elected officials, party members and veterans gathered at the Harrison Ruritan Club. “These are not the kind of increases you need to stave off inflation. Just let’s be on the same page there. Like inflation, it is one thing. Fifty percent in four or five years is a whole different thing.”
Wamp was referencing, in part, a 52% property tax increase in Red Bank in 2023.